Danielle Steel: Changes

“Do you think they'll catch him, Mom?” Matthew asked her that night.

“I hope so, Matt.” She held him on her lap, praying that the danger would not touch him … or any of them … she looked from him to Pam to the twins. Mark was out. And that night Peter talked to her about it again.

“Why don't you quit?”

She didn't want to tell him that she was thinking the same thing. “I'm not a quitter, that's why.” But she had thought of something else. “What if we go away?”

“Where?”

It was June by then, and she thought of it with a sigh, as she looked at Peter hopefully. “What about taking everyone to Martha's Vineyard for a while?” She hadn't rented the house this year, but maybe she could still get it for a few weeks, or rent another one. But he shook his head.

“That's too far away for you.” She was four months pregnant by then, and just beginning to show. “And I'll never see you if you go there. Why not something nearby?”

“That defeats the whole purpose of the trip.” She was exhausted by the whole idea, and she was staggered by what the station was spending on bodyguards, but nobody begrudged them to her. And it certainly wasn't their fault they got on her nerves. That morning as she poured a glass of milk for Matt, one of the men had asked her to “Step back from the window, please.” It certainly reminded one day and night of what was going on, and the threat to their lives. “What about Aspen again?” She looked hopelessly at Peter then.

“I don't think the altitude is good for you.”

“Neither is the tension here.”

“I don't know. I'll think about it today.” And so did she. Suddenly all she wanted to do was run away again. She had lived with the nightmare for a month and she couldn't stand it anymore. She went to work that afternoon, and sat at her desk, her bodyguard just outside the room, and suddenly she looked up and saw the producer staring down at her with a smile.

“Mel, we've got good news for you.”

“You're sending me to Europe for a year?” She smiled, and for the first time, she thought she felt the baby move. They hadn't mentioned her pregnancy on the show because they were afraid that the madman who was hunting her would do something even worse to her if he found out. So the secret she was carrying remained invisible and unknown beneath her desk.

“Better news than that.” The smile grew wider and she saw Paul Stevens in the hall looking at her benevolently.

“You're giving Paul my job.” Paul grinned and nodded yes as Mel laughed. They were almost friends now, as a result of the agonies of the past month.

“They caught the lunatic who's been threatening you.”

“They did?” Her eyes grew wide and filled with tears. “It's all over then?” He nodded and she began to shake.

“Oh my God.” She put her head down on her desk and began to sob.

CHAPTER 32

“Well, my love,” Peter looked happily across at her, as they sat beside their pool; all the kids were out, and they had peace again. “What'll we do for fun this week?” He smiled at her. “No one can accuse us of having a dull life at least.”

“God forbid.” She lay back and closed her eyes. She knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to go to Martha's Vineyard and lie in the hot sand, but all the kids had other plans by then, Peter was tied up with his work, and she had agreed to forfeit her vacation that year, and take maternity leave instead. The baby was due around Thanksgiving, and she was leaving work on October first.

“I have an idea, Mel.”

“If it involves anything more than falling into the pool, don't tell me now.” Her eyes were closed as he smiled at her, and walked slowly over to where she sat.

“Why don't we look at some houses today?” She opened one eye.

“You're kidding of course.”

“I'm serious.”

She looked absolutely amazed. “You are?”

“Well, much as I hate to admit it, there's nowhere to put the new baby, except maybe in the garage, and I think a whole lot of construction would drive us nuts. The twins need their own rooms …” Mel knew how hard it was for him to admit mistakes, and she held out her arms. He knew how badly she had wanted to move out of Anne's house, and she had long since given up.

“Wouldn't you rather stay here? I really wouldn't mind. We can figure something out for a couple of years, and Mark will be gone soon.” He had decided to go east to college for his junior and senior two years, which meant he had only one more year at home, and Jess already knew she wanted to go to Yale if she could get in … “The kids are practically grown-up.”

“That's nice for them. I wish I could say the same for me.”

“You're the nicest man I know.” She kissed him gently on the lips and he let his fingers drift up her leg. “Hmm … Do you suppose anyone can see us here?”

“Only a neighbor or two, and what's a little passion between friends?”

He took her inside then, and their lovemaking renewed the bond between them. Afterward he brought her lunch on a tray, and she lay in bed looking comfortable and happy and relaxed. “Why are you so good to me?”

“I don't know. I must love you a lot.”

“Me too.” She smiled happily. “Did you really mean that about a new house?” The idea delighted her, but she didn't want to push. She knew how much the old one meant to him and how much effort he had put into it, standing behind Anne. But in Mel's mind, it would always be Anne's house, not even his, but Anne's. Even now.

“Yes, I did.” She beamed and finished lunch, and then they got up and went for a drive, and here and there they saw a house they liked, but none of them were for sale.

“You know, it could take us years to find the right place.”

“We have the time.”

She nodded, feeling relaxed, and enjoying the Sunday afternoon. The next weekend was the Fourth of July. And it was then that they saw the perfect house for them. “My God!”—Mel looked at Peter as they walked around for a second time—“it's huge.”

“This may come as a shock to you, Mrs. Hallam, but we have six kids.”

“Five and a half.” She smiled, but there were rooms for each of them, with studies for both Peter and Mel to use whenever they worked at home, there was a handsome garden, an enormous pool, and little pool house for the kids to use with their friends. It had absolutely everything they wanted and it was still in Bel-Air, which Peter preferred.

“Well, Mrs. Hallam?”

“I don't know, Doctor. What do you think? Can we afford it?”

“Probably not. But once we sell my house we can.” It was the first he had admitted it was his, not theirs, and Mel grinned. She loved the new house. “Why don't we make a down payment on it?” But it was a project in which they would both have to invest, otherwise they couldn't manage it, and that suited Mel just fine. She wanted something that was equally theirs, hers as well as his, and she still had her money from the house in New York to invest. They put their house on the market the following week, and it didn't sell until Labor Day, but the other one was still there.

“Let's see.” Peter glanced at the calendar as they closed on the new house. “The baby's due November twenty-eighth … today is September third … you go on leave from the network in four weeks. That gives you exactly two months to get this place in shape for us, and with any luck at all we'll be in by Thanksgiving.” He looked totally matter-of-fact and Mel laughed at him.

“Are you kidding? It'll take months.” Even though the place was in perfect shape, they wanted to paint and change the wallpapers, alter the garden here and there, they had to pick out fabrics and order drapes … new carpeting … “Dream on.”